Agyields is a new national crop yield database and another innovation led by Lincoln University to benefit New Zealand farming.
This Canterbury Farming article (on page 21 of the August 2022 edition) outlines the industry joint venture.
Sharing yield and growth rate data has the potential to improve planting decisions, strengthen resilience to drought conditions and ultimately increase profitability. This data sharing tool is intended to help regional level decision making and hill country farming is specifically focused on.
Improving yield is a central premise of Precision Agriculture. The Precision Ag concept can be defined as managing variability whilst conserving inputs to improve yield. Of course achieving this aim has the potential for some seriously good environmental outcomes for everyone too.
Using a variable rate irrigation system for the fixed grid irrigation, or selecting G-Set pod irrigation could further improve the yield, especially on hilly terrain. Fixed grid is widely acknowledged as being the most suitable irrigation system for challenging terrain, such as foothills and areas overhead sprinkler systems can not reach.
We encourage you to have a look at the Agyields website so you can understand more about the crop yield database, and how it may improve future decision making on your farm.